The Daily Advertiser from Lafayette, Louisiana • 9

Saturday, Jan. 3, 1998 -The Advertiser 9a Our State Leprosy patients may be turned out Some hospital residents fear return to an 'uncaring' society N.O. boy's arm saved, however more surgery may be needed NEW ORLEANS (AP) appeared Friday that doctors had: saved the badly damaged right arm of a 7-year-old boy who near- ly lost the limb in a New Year's- Eve fireworks accident. A spokesman for the Medical Center of Louisiana in New Orleans said the child remained in; stable condition Friday and was undergoing more surgery to clean out residue from the explosion and to do more repair work on damaged artery. Jerry Romig said that while the' arm was apparently saved, it was unclear how much mobility the -boy would retain or whether the' arm would grow and develop properly.

"There's still a lot to do, a lot to, look at," Romig said. On Thursday, doctors set fractured arm and did vein said Jean Patterson a spokeswoman for the hospital. The accident happened in Waggaman, shortly before 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Col.

John For-, tunato. spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, said it involved a piece of steel pipe used to make a small homemade cannon. Witnesses told police that the boy's father was pouring gunpow-. i der into the device, tamping it' down and setting it off with a But the force of one blast did more than make noise. It sent' shrapnel flying, some of which nearly severed the boy's arm.

bay by powerful antibiotics whose origins are the Sulfone drugs developed at Carville in the 1940s. Although 6,000 Americans have leprosy and 200 new cases are diagnosed each year, cases can be treated on an outpatient basis. What's more, 95 percent of the population is resistant to the disease, making leprosy the least contagious of infectious diseases. The center stopped taking long-term patients in the 1980s, and the population dwindled from a peak of 400 in the 1950s. The li5 patients left are too few to warrant the center's $17 million annual budget.

The center, originally a state facility, became a national "leprosarium" in 1921. New federal legislation transfers Carville back to IiOuisiana, which will make it a school and job training center for delinquent youth. The shift is expected to take three years. Some patients fear leaving Carville, their home for so long and a safe haven from what they say is an uncaring society In the early days, patients were often brought in handcuffs and shackles. They could not vote or use telephones.

Their money was fumigated and their outgoing mail sterilized. Even as late as the 1960s, public health laws forbade lepers from using public transportation and restrooms. Carville patients were institutionalized until they tested negative for leprosy 12 consecutive times. "I don't think people are not scared of it this disease can be awful ugly and mean," said resident Johnny Harmon. "I plan to stay for as long as I can." The decision whether residents CARVILLE (AP) For Jack Pendleton, the leprosy hospital where he has lived for more than two decades seems more prison than refuge.

When he speaks of the coming closing of the century -old hospital, housed in a former plantation on a bend in the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, no wistfulness shades his voice. Only impatience. It's time for the federal Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center to close, he said. It's time for patients to live outside its confining walls, free from the disgrace their forced isolation from society makes them feel.

"This place just continues that stigma." the 70-year-old Pendleton said from the front lawn of the 330-acre center, where the first patients with Hansen's Disease were brought by barge in 1894 from the New Orleans "pest house." "If we can go into society, then we can live in dignity with our heads held high for the short time we have left," he said. The average age of the 135 patients remaining at the center known locally simply as Carville is 70. They and some 60 elderly residents of Kalaupapa. an isolated peninsula on the north side of the Hawaiian island of Molokai, are the last Americans hospitalized with leprosy. Many of Carville's residents arrived decades ago, some in the 1930s, when the law mandated isolation and no successful treatments existed for leprosy, a deforming disease that kills nerves, ulcerates skin and dissolves bones, creating the appearance of clawed fin gers or stumpy feet.

Today, however, the symptoms and disfigurement can be kept at Associated Press Patient Jack Pendleton drives a golf cart through the grounds of Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center in Carville recently. Residents of the hospital face an uncertain future as the facility is set to become a school and job training center. maybe among family and friends. Pendleton said he's eager to return to Arizona.

He was forced to leave in 1960 when the state health director learned he had leprosy He and other patients talk of buying cars and homes for the first time. Pendleton draw a link to the to the troubled youngsters who will soon take their places. "Throwaway kids will be sent here," he said. "They'll be schooled and trained and qualified to live in society just like we want to without the stigma." Hospital director Robert Jacob-son has mixed feelings about the changes coming to Carville. but believes they are due.

"Carville fosters what people think has to be done with Hansen's Disease patients isolation." he said. "The location of the facility contributed to that. But the disease can be treated by doctors on an outpatient basis. There's no reason to isolate." Those who depart Carville are eligible for lifelong free medical care and an annual living allowance of $33,000. Best of all, many say.

is that they'll have a chance to live in society again. may stay on at Carville rests with the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Charlotte Mehuron. a spokeswoman for the agency's Health Resources and Services Administration, said last week no date had been set for a final decision.

The residents of the leper settlement at Kalaupapa. whose average age is 68, have all chosen to live out their days there. They receive housing and medical care from the Hawaii Department of Health. When the last resident dies, the National Park Service will take over the settlement and made it a historical park. Fire ravages publishing company in Jeff Parish Introducing A New Opportunity From The Daily Advertiser "NEWSBAG" A NEWSBAG IS A POI.YBAG THAT HAS AN ADVERTISING MESSAGE ON ONE SIDE OF THE BAG.

TO BE DISTRIBUTED WITH OUR 1 WSPAPER INSIDE TO HOMES IN OUR DISTRIBUTION AREA. OUR AVAIIABILITIES TO OUR CUSTOMERS ARE CONTINUOUSLY EXPANDING. Report It! If you see news happening we want to know. "We don't know what was lost on every book, but I don't think we'll be greatly affected." Jim Calhoun Part owner of Pelican Publishing Impact SINGLE SHEET FLYERS HIGH IMPACT ADVERTISING AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE. Customers of BellSouth Mobility can coll 'NEWS (6397) on their cellular telephone to report a news event.

The call will go directly to the Advertiser newsroom. There is no charge for the call. IT'S FLEXIBLE: You choose the quantity, ink colors, paper colors, and circulation zones! FREE DESIGN WORK: No extra costs for design or typesetting! ZONED CIRCULATION The Advertiser will carry your message only to the areas you like to reach! HIGH IMPACT Free standing inserts have no competition on the same page, and can eas-il be tacked onto the fridge for future reference by potential customers. IMMEDIATE RESPONSE: Fliers traditionally convey A sense of important news. They're great vehicles tor sales events, limited-time offers, special The Daei Aiautob GRETNA (AP) Investigators don't know if New Year's Eve fireworks touched off the blaze that destroyed a publishing company and four adjacent homes.

Jefferson Parish Fire Chief Steve Hebert said Friday No one was hurt in the fire, but a 97-year-old woman evacuated from one of the houses died Thursday at a hospital. Etta Steverman died of natural causes. West Jefferson Hospital said. Hebert said his department was still trying to find out what started the fire, which did about $2 million worth of damage to Pelican Publishing warehouse and offices and to two adjacent double homes. "The neighbors seem to feel that it was fireworks, because there were a lot of kids in that neighborhood shooting off fireworks, throwing fireworks at cars, throwing fireworks at houses," said Jim Calhoun, who bought the company with his brother and sister-in-law in 1970.

"I don't know, but the neighbors seem to think that was the cause of it." Dr. Milburn Calhoun reported that the building was worth $400,000 and its contents $1 million. Hebert said. Pelican, which the Calhouns built from 22 titles to more than 800. is known for its regional titles, including the Cajun Night Before Christmas and Justin Wilson's cookbooks; the annual Best Editorial Cartoons series: and for travel books including the Maverick Guide series, which has concentrated mainly on Pacific Rim countries including Vietnam.

About half the books were in the converted church, and the other half were in a warehouse across the river, said Jim Calhoun, who described Pelican as probably the largest family-owned publisher in the Deep South. "We're spending today trying to decide on temporary quarters, but we think we have that worked out," he said. Records were in good shape. Cal- Pelican titles The Associated Press Travel: The Majesty of Colonial Williamsburg, by Peter Beney Stern's Guide to the Cruise Vacation, by Steven B. Stern.

Traveler's Guide to Jewish Germany, by Peter Hirsch and Billie Ann Lopez Golfing in Ireland: The Most Complete Guide for Adventur ous Golfers, by Rob Armstrong Derby Magic, by Jim Bolus Cartooning: Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year, ed. Charles Brooks Knee Deep in Mississippi, by Clay Jones Guide to Cartooning, by Al Bofal Cooking: Justin Wilson Looking Back: A Cajun Cookbook, by Justin Wilson Kosher Creole Cookbook by-Mildred L. Covert and Sylvia P. Gerson La Bouche Creole by Leon E. Somat Jr.

The Dooky Chase Cookbook, by Leah Chase The Balkan Cookbook, by Vladimir Mirodan Regional: Clovis Crawfish series by Mary Alice Fontenot. New Orleans Architecture series (seven volumes) You Are My Sunshine, the Jimmy Davis Story. Weill. Civil War: Mary Surratt. An American Tragedy.

By Elizabeth Steger Trindal -NEWS For More Information Contact VtcJrt Brinktnan. Sales Representative (318) 289-6342 or FAX: (318) 289-6466 The Daily Advertiser 6397 houn said. "We had backup diskettes on most everything of consequence and duplicate copies of contracts and things like that." he said. Still unpublished books also had backup diskettes, he said. "We don't know what was lost on every book, but I don't think we'll be greatly affected." he said.

"Almost every book had a backup to where with a little bit of work we'll be back up to where we were." Burned firecrackers and spent fireworks casings littered the street where the converted church used as Pelican's warehouse caught fire about 11 p.m. Wednesday. The fire spread to the doubles when the warehouse walls collapsed. Fireworks are illegal in surrounding Jefferson Parish and nearby New Orleans. However, a city ordinance allows them in Gretna.

"We had what we feel was good insurance coverage," Calhoun said. That wasn't the case for Stever man's grandniece. Cathey Bryant. 45, who shared one of the houses with Steverman. She said none of her possessions was insured, and she, her 8 year-old son, Richard, and her great-aunt lost almost everything they owned.

When neighbors pounded on the door to warn about the fire, they grabbed a few bags of clothes and her son's class pictures. "What you see is what we got." she said. UOne Moment in Time 1942-1945 Formation flying at the United States Air Corp Flight School, located in Lafayette during World War II. This photo is part of the permanent collection on display at the Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Office. If you have a historic picture you would like to see displayed in the collection, contact Clerk of Court O.C.

"Dan" Guilliot. In Brief New state lawmaker judge take oaths SRRPVFPnPT fAP Shreve- ort' tipu- state mnrpspntative and pistrict judge were sworn in Friday. House Speaker Hunt uowner dminUtprpri thp natb nf office for former state Rep. Roy Brun, who was elected to a district court seat rated last year. Then he len tne arlrtn Parich fViiirthmisp for the ui iii w- pen Hall Eye Institute, where he We can restore or copy your old photos New Sunday Holiday Hours Noon 5:00 p.m.

149 James Comeaux Rd. (Near Poets) 2379594 pas present for the swearing in oi jjl 1 wayne Waddell. elected less man tree weeks ago to replace Brun in he House..